So, anyone else into pinball? I've joined a local league this past year and have been having a "ball" nyuk nyuk. I've found that the reflexes and attention to scoring rules I've honed in shmups really carry over to pinball.

And I must say the video game Pinball Arcade though obviously different from the physical games really help me learn the rule sets for each pin. I played Twilight Zone in Pinball Arcade and got the 1st place score in my pod (even over people who OWNED the physical TZ) during the tournament.

Love it, but sadly don't own my own machine yet. I really like the design of Space Invaders pinball but not sure how it plays. I'm sure there are machines out there offering an incredible playing field but it's hard to differentiate when I only have so many in my vicinity to compare.

I've played pinball since I was a kid each chance I've gotten & my first machine was a Rocky & Bullwinkle. My first video game was Atari Pinball. I've mostly only been able to play the console pinball since I live in such a remote area. Devil Crush & Jaki Crush are my favorites. I'm looking into getting Odama but I want it with the mic.

Theres a busted Lost World & a busted Addam's Family near me. They are playable but badly damaged. Sad sight indeed. I think when I buy my own machine I want something nostalgic like the Nightmare On Elm Street or a Terminator 2 ones.

I've been playing for 25 years or so, and I currently own 21 full-size (read: "real") machines.

So, yeah: I'd say I'm into it. If you ever get to the Detroit area, let me know and I'll have you join me on a trip to my local pinball club which has well over 200 machines, and soon will have over 250 machines.

I like it quite a bit. When I visit my dad in NC, I like to go to Flippers, a place with a good selection of older and newer machines. I like how a few of the machines were modded with color DMD screens.

Wow! That's always amazing to know that places like that can still exist. Where do you store yours? Basement area, throughout the house?

Well, to be fair, very few places like the VFW have ever existed at all. It's akin to something like the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas or something like that. The VFW, however, is not open to the public but once or twice a year. If you *truly* love the game, plan to come to the Showcase in May 2015. Plan for the weekend. Heck, you can even camp on the grounds at no charge if you please (no running water, though).

Me, though? I've got machines in my house (The Simpsons Pinball Party), my parents' house (World Cup Soccer and World Poker Tour), friends' houses (8 or so), and about 11 in a storage unit.

Wow, that is really awesome that you have your own pinball collection!

Do you know other pinball players that are into shmups? I'm trying to reach out to the pinball community to see if there are any prospective shmup players, hehehe.

I'm actually using a pinball scoring system/software for a shmup tournament later this week, I think there is a lot that can be learned from both genres of games.

--F

boagman wrote:

drauch wrote:

Wow! That's always amazing to know that places like that can still exist. Where do you store yours? Basement area, throughout the house?

Well, to be fair, very few places like the VFW have ever existed at all. It's akin to something like the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas or something like that. The VFW, however, is not open to the public but once or twice a year. If you *truly* love the game, plan to come to the Showcase in May 2015. Plan for the weekend. Heck, you can even camp on the grounds at no charge if you please (no running water, though).

Me, though? I've got machines in my house (The Simpsons Pinball Party), my parents' house (World Cup Soccer and World Poker Tour), friends' houses (8 or so), and about 11 in a storage unit.

Gorgar was in our local bowling alley, the speech and artwork were great but I couldn't play the damn thing. Another favourite was Haunted House - excellent sound effects and artwork. That was the last to go at the pool arcade, the video games gradually pushed all the others out, but HH remained (next to Gauntlet).

I'm a HUGE fan of Dave Christensen's art for the Bally machines. I once got to play an original Captain Fantastic and that thing looks stunning. Also love his work on Bon Voyage, Air Aces and Twin Win.

I'm a HUGE fan of Dave Christensen's art for the Bally machines. I once got to play an original Captain Fantastic and that thing looks stunning. Also love his work on Bon Voyage, Air Aces and Twin Win.

I'm a John Youssi fan myself, though his work with Williams far, far exceeds his work with Stern. Lots of other great artists, too: Doug Watson, Greg Freres, Linda Deal/Doane, Paul Faris...too many to mention, really.

It's functional, but of all of the SuperPin series that WMS put out during that era, it's probably the second worst of the bunch, only better than Popeye Saves The Earth, which is nigh-unredemptive. JD has a lot on the playfield, but doesn't come together as well as it should in most every area.

It's functional, but of all of the SuperPin series that WMS put out during that era, it's probably the second worst of the bunch, only better than Popeye Saves The Earth, which is nigh-unredemptive. JD has a lot on the playfield, but doesn't come together as well as it should in most every area.

You'll still enjoy the Dredd machine if you're a fan, but yeah, it's nothing special. Surprisingly there's been two around my shithole town in the past couple of years and I always give it a go. I think I mainly just love it for the picture of Walter skateboarding.

Yeah, I've been really getting into the Pinball Arcade lately. Just bought the 2nd and 3rd season earlier today as a bit of a Christmas present to myself. Loving BK2K particularly - The music's by the same guy who did Jungle Strike and Crue Ball for the MD. Loving the new tables but got a soft spot for the old Gottliebs too.

I was also messing with Visual Pinball for a bit too. Apart from some weird physics bug I can't nail down with the desktop 4:3 version, Gottlieb's Krull is awesome to play in Visual Pinball with a 16:9 rotated monitor, decent speakers and a separate 4:3 lcd screen for the fake backglass/alphanumeric display.

You'll still enjoy the Dredd machine if you're a fan, but yeah, it's nothing special. Surprisingly there's been two around my shithole town in the past couple of years and I always give it a go. I think I mainly just love it for the picture of Walter skateboarding.

I really wish there were more Dredd games to choose from. I can imagine a table with so many bells & whistles, the coolest sound effects & quotes, but I guess it's not happened yet. On the homefront we've only got the 90's movie platformer (decent on SNES, still has Dark Judges so not strictly Stallone), two lackluster mobile games that I know of, a crummy light gun arcade & a crummy PSX game, then Dredd vs Death (a fun but unrealized take & plain... first person shooter, yuck). I never played the ZX Spectrum one but have a nice emulator set up on my tablet.

I'm thinking about breaking into the Mongoose miniatures game but added the cost for completion up to over a 1000 US. Eek.

So as not to get too sidetracked it does occur to me that I could take a busted old machine with a great playing field & do a custom Dredd remodel if I ever got my hands on one worthy. It would be an awesome project. I love watching the TNT Amusements YouTube channel & from the info I get on there it seems like it would be a fun project. Doable?

I'm a big fan, although certainly not an expert. I only have space and money for one at the moment (Pinbot), but there's a pinball museum here in Asheville. They usually keep 20-30 machines, but the selection changes frequently, since they're all for sale. The owner is a really cool guy, and I'm going to do a series of youtube videos over there if I can ever get time to do, well, anything.

I really wish there were more Dredd games to choose from. I can imagine a table with so many bells & whistles, the coolest sound effects & quotes, but I guess it's not happened yet.

It has been awhile since I have played, but if I remeber correctly, the sound effects and quotes were one thing the Judge Dredd pin got right. It's at least comic based rather than based on the movie and, while I haven't read the comics yet, I did like the "I am the law" sample much better than they way Sly delivered it.